Bloomberg Surveillance · Saturday, August 29, 2026
Harvard economics professor Ken Rogoff warns that the U.S. is on a path towards a debt crisis, citing the global financial crisis and the pandemic as major catalysts. He criticizes academic economists for a 'near religious conviction' that interest rates would remain low, leading to complacency in Washington regarding debt.
“We've had a couple of catastrophes, the global financial crisis and the pandemic. But I think a larger issue, which has been a big topic at this symposium for years and years, was a near religious conviction among academic economists in the journal's that interest rates were going to go down and down and down.”
“So who cares how much debt you owe? You'll never have to pay interest on it. And I think that's dominated the political landscape. The interest rates have reversed, but Washington hasn't, and a lot of academics hasn't.”
“Honestly, I think it's going to be very difficult to do till we have a crisis that convinces voters something has to happen.”